NNs On the Wind

It’s a hot summer day in South Dakota as we drive through the Custer State Park and to Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

On first arrival and encountering a large concrete parking facility there is no visible sign of the mountain top. Only have walking towards it and up to a grand alley type of walking area do the four presidents appear. They don’t seem quite as massive as we expected. But they were pretty amazing nevertheless. 

There were lots of people but not too many to be bothersome. After a few photo snaps from the main visitor area, we headed towards the Sculptor’s Studio. The main visitor area is under construction so we didn’t get a closer experience that others may have had.

The Sculptor’s Studio housed a 1/12 scale model of the monument by the artist, Gutzon Borglum. There were several iterations as funding and rock status greatly influenced the progress of the work. There is much more detail in the model than what was chiseled into the mountain. As Gutzon Borglum died before completion and due to loss of funding as WWII started, Gutzon Borglum’s son stopped the work in 1941 declaring it complete. 

A NPS ranger led a talk about how the monument was created. There was dynamite for rough contouring, detonated with great precision, as well as chiseling and fine smoothing by hand with pneumatic hammers by workers suspended from the top in bosun’s chairs. It is an amazing accomplishment to see the detail and the height of the monument on top of the mountain.

Turns out the mountain was owned by a Mr. Rushmore. He felt the project was a good one and personally donated to its advancement. He was asked if he wanted the name of the mountain to be maintained and he agreed.